Five-year-old Scarlett gets a virtual tour of SickKids labs

Posted on June 11, 2021

Summary:

SickKids staff help answer Scarlett’s curious questions about what happens to her blood after it’s drawn.

Throughout her time at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), five-year-old Scarlett has been curious about blood draws and what happens when her blood is sent to the lab for tests. Scarlett’s parents and care team planned a virtual tour of the Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine as a “gift” to her as she nears the end her chemotherapy journey and to help foster Scarlett’s interest and curiosity.

[Close up of computer monitor showing a virtual conversation between a SickKids staff member in a lab and Scarlett, a young girl. The staff member is showing Scarlett the large equipment throughout the lab, and explaining how blood samples run through the large machine and how the samples come out.]

Scarlett: Cool.

Angela: So it goes on a tread, it goes on here...

Scarlett: I know, cool, isn't it?

Angela: It goes all the way across. Keeps going. Up there, can you see up there?

Scarlett: Ya.

Angela: It makes a slide.

Scarlett: Cool.

Angela: It takes the blood and it makes a slide. And the slide goes there to get stained. And it comes out looking like, ah ha... there we go. See those slides?

Scarlett: Mmhmm.

Touring the Biochemistry, Haematology and Microbiology labs, Scarlett says her favourite part of the virtual tour was when the blood was stained from red to purple for analysis. “I got to see how they turn the blood into different colours!”

This Child and Family-Centred Care Week, we recognize our amazing staff for going the extra mile for Scarlett. Answering her questions in this engaging way is just one example of how SickKids staff deliver care that is centred on the needs of patients and their families.